Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of lighting and photographing a film. The cinematographer or director of photography works with the director to ensure that all the visual aspects of a film contribute to and enhance its overall meaning and purpose.

It is the process of taking ideas, actions, emotional subtext, tone and all other forms of non-verbal communication and rendering them in visual terms.Blain Brown, 2002

The rules and conventions that underpin the practice of cinematography have developed with the feature film industry and have become naturalised as a form of language shared between filmmakers and their audiences. The cinematographer uses this complex visual language to create effects, express ideas and provoke emotional, intellectual and aesthetic responses.